Hero
by ToriNeverShouts
Summary: John Egbert, the most popular kid in school. His life crashes down around him after he receives grim news from his doctor. The only person who's there to pick up the pieces is Dave Strider, the social outcast.
1. Chapter 1

_Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring. _John's alarm clock started making noise, the noise getting louder every minute that passed. He groaned into his pillow, and rolled over and looked at the clock. He couldn't read it, he didn't have his glasses on yet, but his alarm went off at the same time every morning, 5:15.

He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand by his bed, pushing them onto his nose. Walking to his bathroom, he ran his hands through his hair, pushing it off his forehead. He stared at his reflection for a few minutes before taking a shower.

He threw on the first clothes he saw; a blue t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some running shoes. He stared at his reflection for a few more minutes, before putting on his "mask."

He fake smiled, "You're the most popular, carefree guy in school. You're in love with the most popular girl at school. You're the happiest guy ever." He shook his head, everything he said was a lie, but he kept up the act at school. He never wanted to feel left out or hated, so he created a fake face to wear at school. Sometimes, he was afraid that he had become his mask.

But all the nights that he stayed up, thinking about how much he actually hated himself, told him that he hadn't.

His father drove him to school everyday. John resented his father, but only because his father had never told him that he was proud of him. All he wanted was for his father to seem like he cared the least bit, at least ask how John was doing, but he never did. They used to be closer, but his father seemed more distant the last five years.

"Did you fix your work on that paper?" his father asked, not even bothering to look at John. He nodded a silent yes to his father, and they didn't talk the rest of the car ride.

Stepping out of the car, John pulled his backpack on his back, gripping the straps tightly. No students were at school yet, which was expected, John always liked to be early. He was no longer the John Egbert who stayed up every night resenting himself. No, now, he was the John Egbert everyone wanted to be. The John Egbert who was always elected for everything he ran for. The John Egbert that was perfect.

Walking through the halls, John realized he wasn't paying attention when someone knocked into him, and he fell on the ground. His glasses fell off, and he couldn't see who knocked him over. All he could see was a big blur of red and black. The blur moved away a step, and then moved back, holding John's glasses out to him.

"Sorry about that," the blur said, John recognized the voice a little, but it wasn't anyone he had talked to in a long time. Sliding his glasses back onto his face, the blur slowly became a person. John mentally sighed when he saw who it was.

"Dave Strider," John said, shaking his head. Dave was the social outcast of the school, no one liked him. He always wore ridiculous aviator sunglasses, too. "Maybe you should watch where you're going."

Dave smirked, "Oh yeah, sorry, wouldn't want to hurt Mr. Perfect." He held out his hand, "Do you need some help?"

John stood up himself, "I don't need your help, Strider." He tried to make himself sound bigger than he felt.

"Yeah, right, no one needs my help. I'm nothing," Dave spat, and kicked the ground, knocking dirt off his shoes. "I don't want to help you anyways, Egbert. Watch what you're doing, if you hit your head, you might get more stupid." He started walking away, laughing.

"Watch who you're messing with, Strider. I could ruin your life."

Dave turned around, "You can't ruin it when I've already hit rock bottom." He smiled, turned around, and kept walking.


	2. Author's note

**A/N: Hello friends! Sorry for making a whole chapter an author's note, but some things need to be said. **  
**First off, the characters might be a bit.. out of character. Second, this is an AU where Sburb did not happen, and does not exist. Third, I may not update quickly, but I will try when I can. **  
**Thank you for reading, have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 3

John watched as Dave walked away, a frown forming on his face. Who did he think he was? He was the loser, no one liked him. Rumors have it; he doesn't even have any parents.

Shaking his head, he walked to his locker, spinning the lock, shoving the books he didn't need into it. He started to hear students coming into the halls, and closed his locker.

Turning around, someone took his glasses off his face. "Guess who," a voice said, and John recognized it right away. It was Vriska, his girlfriend. In all honesty, John couldn't stand her. She was full of herself, and didn't appreciate what she had, always wanting to be the best at everything. But John pretended to like her, she was popular, so if he dated her, he would be, too.

He laughed, "C'mon Vris, give 'em back!" He reached out in front of him, trying to grab them. She laughed, and pushed them into his hand. He pushed them back onto his face, and he could see Vriska more clearly. Her black hair ran to her shoulders, with a slight blue tint. She was almost taller than John, which was embarrassing for him.

"Aw, come on John, you're no fun." She pushed him up against his locker, "I've missed you, John. You barely talk to me anymore." She laughed loudly, "You're not ignoring me, are you?"

John sighed internally, of course he was ignoring her, he didn't even really _like_ her. "Of course not," he lied. "I've just been busy, you know, exams are coming up."

She sighed, backing up from him, "Yeah, okay. But just remember, you've got something good, don't let it slip away." She shrugged, and walked away.

_Thank God that's over_, John thought to himself.

The rest of his day was uneventful, his classes were boring, and he managed to avoid any conversations with Vriska. He saw Dave in the lunch room, reading a book and drinking out of a water bottle. When he saw John, he raised his bottle and smiled at John, mocking him.

After finishing his homework, he sat on his bed, scribbling in his notebook. Eventually, he went to sleep.

* * *

Walking home, Dave put his hands into his jacket pockets. December was brutally cold in Washington, chilling him to the bone. He laughed to himself a bit, _home?_ No, he didn't really have a home. A falling down building on the bad side of town was not a home. A home is where you feel safe. Dave never felt safe.

He found the building right after Bro left, and he was lucky he did. He was only in the second grade, and he was all alone. He was walking out at night, wondering around, hoping someone would help him. Of course, no one did. So he walked around until he found it, the building he lived in, half of the wall destroyed, and holes in the roof. It's where he's lived ever since, and it's the only place he has.

He walked into his room, and slammed himself down onto the ground. He was all alone. He had always been. He barely had any memories of Bro, the clearest one being the worst. He shrugged his jacket off, and looked at his arm. Tiny cuts ran up and down it, and he ran his finger across them. He didn't really care about himself; he didn't feel much of anything. That's why he cut, to feel something. He shook his head, pulling his jacket back on, pulling a small bottle out of the pocket. The label said _Vodka_, and he smiled to himself. He got it cheap off some kid every week, and it was his escape.

He twisted the top off, and raised the bottle, "To Bro." He laughed, taking a swig. He winced at the taste, and how the drink burned going down. He kept taking swigs until the bottle was half empty, and twisted the top back on. He lay back onto the floor, there was no furniture in the entire building, and he took of his glasses. Setting them beside him, he rolled over, and closed his eyes, going to sleep.

**A/N: Sorry it's so late! I'll try to update more, but school is starting soon. I hope you liked this chapter, I kind of do. I'm sorry if there are any errors, I'll look it over tomorrow.**


	4. Chapter 4

Dave was standing at his locker when Karkat, Dave's only friend, came up to him. "Hey Dave. Did you study for that history test?" Karkat asked; his voice always had a tone of annoyance in it.

Dave laughed, "C'mon Karkat, you know I don't do any work. The teachers just pass me because they feel sorry for me." Karkat shrugged, shoving his books into his locker. He looked behind Dave and sighed, "Here comes John, what a fucking _prick_." Dave raised an eyebrow, but just smiled, and closed his locker door.

John walked by, and Dave yelled out, "Hey Egbert!" John's face turned red. He looked at Dave, his hands in fists.

"Shut up, loser," He said, hitting Dave with his shoulder while walking by. "You aren't good enough to talk to me." John's face changed for a split second, one that looked almost ashamed, before he smirked again.

Karkat sighed, "You idiot, do you _want_ us to get beaten up?" He shook his head, walking away from Dave. "I'll see you in class."

Dave smiled; he knew what he was going to do. He was going to push John until he snapped. He shrugged his backpack on, walking to first period.

* * *

John was sitting in a hospital waiting room, finishing up his math homework. His father had dropped him off right after school. It was just the usual checkup, his father had assured him. John still worried, he was afraid of hospitals, and the way they smelled put him off.

A nurse poked her head out of the door, "John Egbert?" She called, and John stood up. She smiled, "This way, John." She led him back to his doctor's office. His doctor's name was Dr. Megido, and John liked her a lot. She was nice, but very quiet most of the time.

Walking into the room, she smiled, "John, how are you? Any problems you need to talk about?" She sat down next to him, holding her clipboard.

John shrugged. "Well, yeah actually. I've been having trouble breathing? And some chest pain, too."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, and wrote down what John said. "Anything else, like, coughing, wheezing, loss of appetite..?"

He thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I've been having a pretty bad cough lately. Not really a loss of appetite though?" She nodded, writing down more words on her paper.

She stood up, smiled, and pointed at the scale. "Well, let's get this part over with?" John nodded, slipped off his shoes, and stepped on the scale. The doctor adjusted the scale, and frowned a bit. "John, you've lost some weight.." She frowned, "Anyways, let's get your height done, then I want to run a few more tests." John shuddered at that, but still stood up against the wall. He was the same height as he was last year, which wasn't too surprising.

As it turns out, 'a few more tests' was a chest x-ray, which John hated, and a Thoracentesis, which involved draining of fluid from his chest, which John absolutely hated.

He sat in his doctor's office for another half hour, staring blankly at the wall. He wondered if something was wrong, and got anxious. Nothing was wrong, right? John was healthy, right?

The look on his doctor's face when she walked in told him he was not right. "Uh, John? Do you want to wait for your father to get her, or do you want me to tell you now?"

"Uhm, now? I guess?"

She sighed, "John, you have stage one Small Cell Lung Cancer.. The survival rates are pretty low, 31% for stage one, but the cancer hasn't spread yet, so maybe we can treat it. We need to try chemo, and if you respond well, you should get better. Are you okay?"

He was not okay. His whole life was falling apart.

**A/N: Wow, hey guys! Sorry I'm updating so late again, school is started and we're starting assignments and stuff. By the way, Small Cell Lung Cancer is real, and the symptoms and survival rates and everything goes along with it too, I did a lot of research for this. Anyways, I should update in about a week? Just hang tight, guys! Thanks!**


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